On the Road: Vacherie

Just some Louisiana memorabilia in a rusted out car in a sugar cane field.

One can find the old Desire Plantation in Vacherie. It is one of the last structures associated with the historic perique tobacco business in Louisiana. Perique tobacco is cured and fermented in a year-long process, so has a distinct flavor and was mixed with other tobaccos in cigars and cigarettes to add flavor. It was not your average smoker who chose perique tobacco, but rather connoisseurs. It’s worth reading this article, http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/the-mystique-of-perique/, about one of the last remaining perique tobacco growers in St. James Parish, Louisiana (good interview and good photos).

There’s also a buzz about Perique Liqueur de Tabac, distilled in France, but I’ll let you google that yourself.

P.S. Vacherie means ‘mean’ or ‘terrible’ and similar things in French (according to the interweb, anyway) what a choice for a town name!